THE ROSE REVIEW 50TH ANN n IVERSARY EDITION
Fall 2023
DIRECTOR’S REPORT Kenneth P. Miller, J.D., Ph.D.
3 - Student Management Report 4 - 50th Anniversary 6 - Project Updates 9 - Maps Donated 10 - Summer Updates 12 - New Hires 14 - In Memoriam 15 - New Board Members 16 - Spotlight: Bob Howard ’55 18 - Spotlight: Christopher Townsend ’82
The Rose Institute’s 50th Anniversary celebration is in full swing. At CMC’s Alumni Weekend in June, the Rose Institute hosted a 50th Anniversary reception and presented a well-attended panel titled Red vs. Blue States: The Rivalry Deepens. The panel summarized findings from the Fall 2022 CMC-Rose Institute Poll and included discussion by Professor Andrew Sinclair ’08, Henry Olson ’83, Jessica Witt ’00, and Aditya Pai ’13. On October 27, we will host our main anniversary celebration. The all-day campus event will bring together more than 130 Rose Institute alumni, faculty, students, and friends, representing all five decades of the Institute’s history. The day will include a lunchtime panel on the Rose Institute’s public influence, student presentations on current Rose Institute projects, an alumni forum, a campus tour by John Faranda, croquet (a venerable Rose Institute tradition) on Gann Quad, and an evening celebration at the Athenaeum. Dinner at the Athenaeum will feature discussion led by Rose alumni on the Institute’s legacy, present, and future. Honored guests will include long-time CMC president Jack Stark ’57 and Jil Stark, our longest serving Board member Bob Howard ’55 (profiled in this issue), former Board Chair Darryl Wold ’63, and former director Andrew Busch. As part of the celebration, a Rose Institute team led by Marionette Moore, Helen Bovington ’24, and Catherine Murphy ’24, has gathered information on former Rose Institute RAs to create a Profile of Rose Alumni. The
Profile, contained in the 50th Anniversary brochure, includes information on the post-CMC education, current occupation, and geographic location of more than 400 Rose Alumni. Our research confirms that, as a group, Rose alumni are highly ambitious and accomplished. For example, we found that Rose students have earned more than 300 graduate degrees, the largest share of which are JDs (more than 100), followed by MBAs, MPP/MPAs, other masters degrees, and more than 20 PhDs. Moreover, Rose students have routinely earned these credentials at the nation’s top-ranked graduate institutions. We also have documented the career paths of Rose alumni, showing how (true to CMC’s mission) they have achieved leadership positions in business, government, and the professions. In other anniversary projects, we have created a 50-year Rose Institute Timeline, which presents in concise form many of the Institute’s accomplishments over the past five decades, and a video that focuses on the Institute’s mission and how we are pursuing it today. In addition to the campus gala, we are inviting the Rose Institute community to join the celebration in several ways. Alumni and friends should check out the 50th Anniversary web page, which includes opportunities for students, alumni, and friends to submit photos and memories. We are offering Rose Institute 50th anniversary swag (caps, t-shirts, and key chains) featuring our anniversary logo. And we established a Rose Institute 50th Anniversary Fund to give the Institute’s friends an opportunity to
DIRECTOR’S REPORT support our ongoing work. We plan to use the fund to expand the CMC-Rose Institute polling program and student internship opportunities. Many contributions flow into the Fund, and we plan to pursue our 50th anniversary campaign through the end of the academic year. The 50th anniversary celebration has helped us learn more about the Institute’s history and to build connections across generations of alumni. My hope is that this anniversary year will inspire and strengthen the Rose Institute for years to come. Meanwhile, the Institute’s work continues. In the six months since the last Rose Review, we have released two major reports. In June, we published a study titled 2023 California City Manager Survey: A Profile of the Profession, commissioned by the California City Management Foundation. This report is the first comprehensive report on the demographics, professional backgrounds, and opinions of California’s city managers, arguably the most important group of local officials in the state. A large student team, led by Nikhil Agarwal ’24 and supervised by Bipasa Nadon produced this report. In August, we published a 75-page study titled San Francisco’s Government Design: Is City Hall Well-Structured to Meet the Current Crisis? Rose Alum Nicolas Heidorn ’06 was lead author on this report, which involved in-depth interviews with approximately 30 San Francisco civic leaders and research by Rose students Sarah Simionas ’23, Anna Short PO ’24, Grace Hong ’24, Cameron Stevens ’23, and Tara Mehra ’23, as well as design work by Jessica Jin ’16. The report, commissioned by TogetherSF, diagnosed structural problems in San Francisco government and analyzed potential reforms. It has generated extensive media coverage and has contributed to current debates about possible changes to the way San Francisco is governed. This semester, students are also working on the latest Kosmont Survey, faculty research, and other projects. In addition, the Institute, led by student managers Anna Short PO ’24 and Grace Hong ’24, recently hired a strong group of 12 new RAs, all of whom are profiled in this issue. New Hire Manager Liann Bielicki ’24 has organized the onboarding and training program for these new students. This summer, we welcomed former student manager Abhi Nemani ’10 back to the Rose Institute as a consultant to assist with a number of projects, including San Francisco, housing policy, the Kosmont Survey, and our overall data strategy. Abhi has been incredibly helpful and contributes to the Institute’s practice of collaborating with alumni on current projects. We also recently added three outstanding new members to our Board of Governors: Sue O’Bannon ’84, Ashwin Navin ’99, and Jacinth Sohi ’11, who moves from an ex officio to a full board role. On a personal note, a recent highlight was my installation in April as the Don H. and Edessa Rose Professor of State and Local Government. The Athenaeum ceremony was attended by Rose Institute Board members, students, family, and friends, and gave me an opportunity thank to the Institute’s original benefactors, who five decades ago helped make all we do possible, and the Rose Institute community, which remains committed to carrying on the founding vision in the years ahead. To everyone in the Rose Institute family, Happy 50th!
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STUDENT MANAGEMENT REPORT
Student Manager Anna Short PO’24
Associate Student Manager Grace Hong ’24
As we return to campus, we are excited to welcome our 2023 new hire class! This year’s hiring process was especially competitive, and we were forced to make many tough decisions, but we enjoyed getting to know the new students throughout the process and learning about their interests in state and local government. We recently paired the new hires with current research assistants to assist them as they begin their independent research projects and get to know the Rose. On Friday, October 27, we will celebrate the Rose Institute’s 50th anniversary. We are excited to welcome back to campus many of our 400+ alumni to connect, learn about how the Rose Institute has evolved over its 50 years, and present recent and current Rose Institute projects.
across San Francisco’s media landscape and has already played an important role in influencing conversation about how to tackle some of the city’s pressing issues.
A majority of our research assistants are conducting research for our faculty affiliates this semester. Some of these projects include minimum wage research, data collection on executive elections in New York and California, and designing and implementing a survey experiment to measure the extent to which a person identifies with their state. The Rose also recently completed a report analyzing San Francisco’s governance structure in partnership with nonprofit TogetherSF. The report received widespread attention
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We would also like to reflect on the progress we have made towards the goals we set when we first began our tenure as student managers. We successfully expanded our hiring outreach, drew numerous applicants from across the consortium, and are happy to announce that all five Claremont Colleges are now represented among our research assistants. As the semester continues, we are also developing a series of technical training sessions to enhance students’ data skills beyond their initial exposure to relevant software through projects they may have worked on. Lastly, as always, we’ve worked to maintain our vibrant student culture. We would like to thank our new and returning students for making the Rose such a fun and supportive workplace, as well as Professor Miller, Mrs. Nadon, and Mrs. Moore for their guidance and steady leadership. It has been our pleasure to work with such a talented and hardworking group of students and staff. Best, Anna Short and Grace Hong
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50TH ANNIVERSARY Catherine Murphy ’24 The Rose Institute’s 50th Anniversary Celebration continues to be a main priority for our student researchers and senior staff. This spring and summer we gathered data on our alumni network of over 450 through a variety of sources such as LinkedIn, Engage CMC, Facebook, and university websites. With this information we created a database with contact information, geographical location, post-graduate studies, and current occupation. We will create visualizations that illustrate where our alumni have ended up for law school, MBA programs, and other higher degrees attained. We will create a similar illustration to show which industries our alumni end up in. Our team also contacted alumni via email for a reflection about their time at the Rose Institute. We also took a dive into some of CMC’s archives for photos and past research projects to get a sense of what the Rose Institute looked like fifty years ago; it certainly was not as luxurious as the 4th floor of the Kravis Center.
December 1980, President Gerald Ford arrives at CMC and welcomed by Edessa Rose, the Institute’s benefactor.
1992 Research assistants with Student Manager Douglas Johnson (bottom far right).
Students in the 1980s working on map
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1996 Fall Staff and students
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50TH ANNIVERSARY
2019 new hires at their welcome BBQ. Henry Schulz ’22, Jensen Steady ’22, Tara Mehra ’23, Nathan Tran PO’23, Camille Hermosillo ’23, Marshall Bessey ’23, Nohl Patterson ’22
2001 New hires, clockwise from left, Graham Tharp ’05, Lawrence Robinson ’04, Mark Henson ’05, Lauren Weeth ’05, Toby Tobler ’05, Adam Kokesh ’05, Milli Kanani ’05 and Jill Carlson ’05.
In 2021, COVID did not stop Rosies from getting together (by Zoom) to show off their new quarter-zip swag.
2007 New hires, from left, Ed Zaki ’11, Riley Lewis ’11, Mike Whatley ’11, Jeff Park ’11, Jacinth Sohi ’11, Helen Pollock ’11, Liz Johnson ’11, Chris Jones ’11
2015 Joshua Tree retreat. Nina Kamath ’16, Melissa Muller ’18, Wes Whitaker ’18, Kathryn Ridenour ’18, Skip Wiltshire-Gordon ’19, Nick Fedorochko ’19, Bryn Miller ’19, Alex Lopata ’19.
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Most of the 2023 New hires got together at Collins with other Rosies. Clockwise from bottom left: Anna Short PO’23 (Student manager), Maya Maranto HM’26, Dhriti Jagadish SC’27, Elisa Booth ’27, Kahani Malhotra ’27, Rutvij Thakkar ’26, Liann Bielicki’24 (New Hire Manager), Alex Bishop ’26, Catherine Murphy’24, Sam Yao ’27, Ryan Shakiba ’26, Richard Cordero ’26, Anne McDonald ’26, Grace Hong ’24 (Assoc. Student Manager), David Taylor ’26, Quinn Carney ’26.
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PROJECT UPDATES California City Managers Survey Nikhil Agarwal ’24 The California City Management Foundation retained the Rose Institute to conduct a survey of the state’s 482 city managers. We collected survey data over the course of ten weeks, beginning on January 10, 2023. A total of 321 cities or 67% responded. The survey was conducted by Rose Institute staff and 13 student researchers. It included three primary sections: demographic profile, employment profile and city profile. Within the demographic profile, survey participants submitted answers about their age; race or ethnicity; gender; level of education; major studied in university and whether or not the respondent is a California native. The employment profile section included questions about current position, length of time in the position, prior experience and total years as a city manager. The city profile section included questions about the city’s population and the most pressing issues facing the city. Among the key findings, the report indicates 24% of responding city managers are women, which is well ahead of the national average. The percentage of women in chief
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administrator roles has been growing steadily nationwide. The International City Managers Association (ICMA) reported that 18.6% of city managers were women in 2021, up from only 1% in the mid1970s. Survey results also show that 64% of responding city managers report they are originally from California. Similarly, a large sum of California city managers (83%) began their local government careers in California, while 17% began their careers outside the state. The findings also show that a vast majority of California city managers are in their 40s and 50s. 45% of respondents listed 51-60 as their age, and another 33% listed 41-50 as their age. The results demonstrate that younger city managers tend to serve in small cities (less than or equal to 35,000 in population). Managers in the 60+ age bracket were also noted to serve in small or medium cities. Meanwhile, managers in large cities (population of 75,001 - 200,000) and very large cities (population of 200,001+) are largely in the 41-50 and 51-60 age groups. Professor Miller presented the findings to the San Gabriel Valley City Manager’s Association on June 21, 2023.
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PROJECT UPDATES
Director Ken Miller, center, with Burbank City Manager Justin Hess and Glendora City Manager and SGVMA president Adam Raymond following a presentation to the San Gabriel Valley City Managers Association on June 21, 2023.
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PROJECT UPDATES Rose Authors Major San Francisco Report San Francisco faces significant challenges, including a shortage of affordable housing, chronic homelessness, concerns about public safety, and the recent collapse of the Downtown area that is vital to the city’s economy and revenues. In combination, these problems have created a crisis that requires a sustained, effective response by City Hall. According to polls, most San Franciscans believe their government hasn’t met this test. TogetherSF, a non-partisan, communitybased organization devoted to creating a better San Francisco, commissioned the Rose Institute to determine whether elements of the city’s current governance system are impairing City Hall’s performance, and whether changes to that system might help it work more effectively. Rose alumnus Nicolas Heidorn ’06 led the Rose research team and was the lead author of the resulting report. The report is based on an analysis of San Francisco’s current charter (Charter of 1996, as amended), prior charters and charter reform efforts, electoral and governance systems in San Francisco and comparison cities, social science research comparing these systems, and data related to challenges presently facing the city. The authors also conducted in-depth interviews of approximately 30 San Francisco leaders, including current and former elected officials, current and former appointed officials, and other civic leaders. The report concludes that any reforms should prioritize the needs of the city as a whole, while respecting the city’s diversity, and enable City Hall to act decisively. The report focuses on a few critical features of the city’s current government design that could be modified to better attain these ends, namely: the mode of election of the Board of Supervisors; the powers of the Mayor; the structure of the city’s expansive commission system; and the operation of the city’s ballot measure system. The report describes the development and current operation of each of these elements of San Francisco government; assesses their strengths and weaknesses; presents possible options for reform; and discusses which reforms San Franciscans should most seriously consider. Rose Review | Fall 2023 | Page 8
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ROSE RECEIVES GIFT OF HISTORIC MAPS by Todd Stevens P’18, P’24, P’26 Todd Stevens recently donated a collection of 41 historically-significant maps to Claremont McKenna College. The Rose Institute is thrilled to have seven of those maps in our offices. They include a map of California issued by the California-Paris Exposition Commission of 1900 depicting forestry districts, a miners’ map of Southern California from 1896, and maps of early rail and transit lines in Los Angeles. We are deeply grateful to Mr. Stevens for his generous gift. He explains below his interest in maps and his reasons for donating them to CMC.
I am a West Point graduate and former infantry officer who got out of the military after the first gulf war and the fall of the Soviet Union. I went back to graduate school at USC and then pursued (and I’m still pursuing) a career in the energy industry. I spent most of my career at Occidental Petroleum and California Resources Corporation and now work at a private equity backed energy company, Black Knight Energy. I have five kids and three of them attended or attend CMC. My son-in-law also attended CMC. As a parent, I couldn’t be happier with the education and experience my children have gotten at CMC. I started collecting antique maps when I was 12 years old. I was (and still am) fascinated with history and maps tell the story of how our world has changed and evolved My very first map I bought (when I was 12) was an early 1800s map of Europe outlining the extent of Napoleon’s conquests at the time. As a teenager, I would try to buy the occasional antique map but my earnings from my summer jobs didn’t go far. My interest in maps really picked up when I attended West Point. Studying military history and the analysis of many battlefields got me motivated to continue collecting maps. However, my Army officer’s salary didn’t allow many purchases and it wasn’t until I got out of the Army that my collection really took shape. Before widespread use of the internet, you would have to travel to antique stores (limited in the USA) that were mostly in Europe; but now there are regular online auctions around the world and map dealers who know what collectors want. RoseInstitute.org
After the Army, my wife and I settled in Southern California and I started collecting antique maps that fit a few different niches. I pursue military maps, “mistake” maps (maps that had something that turned out to not be true, or was only true for a short period of time, for example, had something like Franklinia on it, which showed up on maps in the early 1800s in Eastern Tennessee because there was a push at that time to split Tennessee into two states and named one after Ben Franklin), California (mostly southern) maps and oil and gas industry maps. Now I have thousands of maps, primarily of Southern California and feel most of them really belong at an academic institution for others to learn from and enjoy. I feel like my southern California map collection (particularly of Los Angeles) is likely one of the best in private hands and tells the story of real estate development of Southern California. In addition to the ones I donated, I hope over time CMC can house more informative and interesting maps for their future students to study and appreciate.
California-Paris Exposition Commission’s map of California, c. 1899
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SUMMER UPDATES Audrey Donahue ’25 This past summer I worked on Professor Sinclair’s research team. My role was collecting and organizing census, voter registration, and primary election data for congressional districts across the US. I really enjoyed the independence that Professor Sinclair gave his research team to problem solve and tackle new challenges when it came to a difficult project like this. I sharpened my technical skills in data collection and organization and became far more knowledgeable about election proceedings in general. I also spent a lot of time outside hiking, running, and camping. The most exciting of which was a trip to Mt. Shasta with a fellow CMCer. We backcountry skied and climbed the mountain. It was an awesome experience and I cannot wait to do something like this again!
Sanskriti Kumar ’26 This summer, I interned in the sports industry as a Scouting Intern at Nashville Soccer Club and an Account Coordinator at Leverage Agency. At NSC, I was able to pursue my interest in soccer by working on multiple research projects focusing on prospective player statistics, MLS league-wide talent recruitment, and club development. At Leverage, I worked with a wide range of clients in the sports and entertainment industry to address their sponsorship needs, and even got to work on a project for my favorite team, Chelsea FC! I spent July in Barcelona volunteering with children in underserved communities; I was able to explore the city to its full extent and loved getting to know the amazing kids I worked with. I also traveled around Catalonia and other countries in Europe, spending time with family and friends from CMC!
Audrey Donahue ’24 hitting the slopes.
Sam Johnson-Saeger ’26 This summer, I interned in Supervision and Credit at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. I learned to code to pull financial data for thousands of firms and tier them for their level of risk related to commercial real estate lending. In my free time, I enjoyed exploring San Francisco and getting a sense for the excellent food scene in the City and in the rest of the Bay Area. At the end of the summer, I traveled to Kaua’i, Hawaii and got to participate in a yoga class with goats, snorkel with dolphins, and eat a lot of authentic Shave Ice, so my vacation was definitely a highlight. I also worked part time as a Research Assistant for Professor William Lincoln at the Robert Day School, editing materials for Prof. Lincoln’s Microeconomics and International Economics courses.
Jada Cook ’26 I spent my summer as a research assistant to Professor Michael Fortner, investigating the role that race, region, and party played in the framing of crack cocaine legislation in the 99th Congress. As a part of CMC’s Summer Research Program I gained skills in using Congressional databases, creating effective research designs, sifting through large bodies of literature, and giving compelling presentations. Towards the end of summer, I took an array of dance classes at studios such as Millenium and the House Dance Complex. I additionally had the opportunity to perform in a professional showcase. I had a fantastic time at the dance showcase and got to work with top industry performers and choreographers in the Los Angeles area.
Sanskriti Kumar ’26 (left) in Barcelona.
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SENIOR SUMMER FAREWELLS UPDATES Joseph Zhong ’25 Over the summer, I interned for Treasury Partners at Hightower, a corporate cash and private wealth management firm in New York City. I analyzed macroeconomic conditions on various factors, including manufacturing, AI disruption, and homebuilding, to extrapolate economic conditions weeks and months into the future. I synthesized data and reports to predict Federal Reserve interest rate decisions and the impact of implementing Basel III so the firm could define its investment strategy for the near future. While I enjoyed analyzing and reading up on macroeconomic conditions and banking regulations, I’m happy to be back on campus and eager to start on Rose projects once more.
Cary Dornier PZ’25 This summer, I worked with Professor Pears on research focusing on state identity. My work included researching and assembling case studies of Montana and Texas and exploring how and why citizens identify with their states in certain ways. I also investigated what potential policy implications these impressions have on state behavior and interactions with the federal government. In addition to faculty research, I spent time abroad, visiting my older brothers who were on sabbatical in Japan and Indonesia. Upon returning from Asia, I went to Washington D.C. where I visited friends and did some networking in the world of politics. At the tail end of the summer, I said goodbye to my childhood home in Connecticut and helped my parents move to San Diego, California, where I had graduated from high school. Now back on campus, I am excited for another semester at the Rose and for the opportunity to intern at a congressional district office.
Nikhil Agarwal ’24 celebrating July Fourth.
Nikhil Agarwal ’24 This summer, I was interning in D.C at the Institute for Justice, a public interest law firm dedicated to protecting economic liberty and fighting against the predations of the administrative state. As someone who’s passionate about constitutional law, I enjoyed learning more about Supreme Court doctrines pertaining to the Fourth and Fifth Amendments, and the way in which lawyers tackle such cases. I also had a great experience living in D.C for the first time, and would love to return after I graduate. The highlight of my summer was attending the Fourth of July celebrations at the Capitol, a truly joyous moment, even for a non-American such as myself!
Catherine Murphy ’24 This summer, I spent the summer interning for Congressman Eric Swalwell in Washington D.C.. Congressman Swalwell represents my home district (CA14), and serves on the House Judiciary and Homeland Security Committees. In the office, I prepared daily press and legislative briefings, attended committee hearings, conducted tours of the Capitol for constituents, and handled constituent phone calls and emails. I also enjoyed meeting CMC alumni on the Hill for coffee chats and visiting every Smithsonian museum DC has to offer.
Pieter van Wingerden ’24
Cary Dornier ’24 outside the White House Lawn.
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I started my summer at the Truman Scholars Leadership Week in Liberty, Missouri, and interned for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Los Alamos National Laboratory. I also participated in AEI’s Summer Honors Program and the Hertog Foundation’s Security Studies fellowship, which focused on Indo-Pacific security issues. I look forward to returning to the Rose Institute after my fall semester in Washington, D.C., where I am currently a National Defense Fellow at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and interning for the House Select Committee on China. Rose Review | Fall 2023 | Page 11
MEET THE NEW HIRES Anne McDonald ’26 is pursuing a dual-major in government and data science. Her interest in politics began when she volunteered for the re-election campaign of a local congresswoman in high school. At the Rose, she is interested in researching the California court system and drug policy. Outside of the Rose, she works as a writing consultant at the CWPD and is co-president of Product Space. She hails from the rainy city of Seattle, WA and enjoys reading Kafka’s short stories, golfing, throwing pottery, jewelry making, and crocheting in her free time.
Alex Bishop ’26 is from Durham, North Carolina. He is a transfer from the University of Toronto. He is planning to study mathematics at Claremont McKenna College. His internship with the Center for Death Penalty Litigation inspired him to study how public policy decisions can break the cycle of crime and poverty in American society. At the Rose, he wants to study how state and local governments can address the housing crisis and use housing policy to promote economic development. He enjoys skiing, literature, talking basketball, film, and philosophy.
Kahani Malhotra ’27 is studying Public Policy with a prospective dual major in PPE. She hails from New Delhi, India, but is a globetrotter, having lived in five different countries—India, Sudan, Russia, Malaysia, and the US—while being a Texan at heart. Her research into marijuana legislation under a Californian cannabis-infusion company and work in a congressional campaign in Saratoga drew her to conduct research for the Rose Institute. She is most excited about researching drug policy, investigating red vs. blue state politics, and uplifting South Asian voices and experiences through her work.
David Taylor ’26 is a from La Habra, California, and is pursuing a dual major in Public Policy and Government. His passion for politics arose from the 2016 presidential election and was further inspired by the political, economic, and social climate during the COVID-19 pandemic. He has always found matters of state and local government to be intrinsic to understanding sociological and political climates as a whole. He is excited to learn about how state and local policies have tangible effects on the welfare of the average citizen. In his free time, David can be found watching sports (baseball, basketball, professional and college football), reading, or keeping up with politics.
Elisa Booth ’27 is majoring in EEP, with a special interest in environmental policy and legislation. In high school, she was deeply involved with her local city council of La Cañada Flintridge, lobbying successfully for more than $300,000 to be allotted toward the implementation of a Climate Action Plan (CAP) for the city. She also managed a campaign for City Council that would go on to win over the incumbent of 11 years by a single vote. She interned for State Senator Anthony Portantino in high school, and led the SoCal Chapter of the Junior State of America as the Speaker of the Assembly. In her free time, you can find Elisa singing in her acapella group, Blue and White, or join her in hiking in the San Gabriel Mountains as an Outdoor Initiative leader. She is also a lover of classical opera and mountain biking- though not at the same time!
Joan Hanson ’26 is pursuing a major in Public Policy and a minor in Spanish, Latin American, and Caribbean Literatures and Cultures at Scripps. She grew up in Seattle and now splits her time between Seattle and Charlotte, North Carolina, where she has become passionate about many North Carolinian state and local issues. In particular, Joan is interested in various policy proposals aimed at mitigating the negative impacts of one of North Carolina’s most lucrative industries, concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), that disproportionately affect marginalized communities in the state. In her free time, Joan enjoys cooking and (re)watching her favorite television shows, which include Silicon Valley, The Wire, and Gilmore Girls, as well as spending time with her friends and family.
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MEET THE NEW HIRES Maya Maranto ’26 is a Harvey Mudd student who intends to major in government and physics and concentrate in Japanese. Raised in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Maya became interested in political ideology in elementary school while listening to her family’s frequent debates about politics, later exploring these areas further in high school history and philosophy clubs. Maya hopes to qualitatively and quantitatively analyze California politics at the Rose, while learning more about how blue bubbles in red states (like her hometown) and similarly red ones in blue states impact politics. She is also interested in sustainability, comparative education, and comparative corruption. Outside of the Rose, Maya helps lead the East Asian Political Society, practices Japanese, reads (all genres), and watches anime with friends and family.
Aria Fafat ’27 is studying Biochemistry and Public Policy. Her interest in public policy and government stemmed from her involvement in her high school’s law society. She is interested in public healthcare and education policy, and is excited to hone her quantitative research skills further at the Rose. Outside of academic interests, she enjoys painting, watching sitcoms, playing badminton and listening to music.
Sam Yao ’27 is from San Mateo, California who plans on majoring in PPE. His passion for politics, business, and political economy first developed from listening to NPR’s Morning Edition with his mom on the way to elementary school every morning and inheriting his dad’s entrepreneurial spirit. Sam has a passion for all things sports, including water polo, swimming, and football. He also loves camping and being in the outdoors due to his experiences as an Eagle Scout. R&B and Jazz are Sam’s two favorite genres of music, and he loves to sing terribly and play the piano.
Rutvij Thakkar ’26 is a transfer from UT-Austin’s McCombs School of Business. With his fresh start at Claremont McKenna, he looks forward to advancing a more nuanced perspective of state and local government from the lens of commercial operators and businesses. This past summer, he interned at the Texas Permanent School Fund as an investment analyst for the $50B AUM K-12 endowment. He is currently an enlisted Air Force Reservist at NAS JRB Ft Worth working as an Air Transportation Apprentice (Forklift Certified!) and he plans to commission into Army Reserve Civil Affairs. Rutvij is currently planning to major in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics.
Quinnn Carney ’26 is from Boise, Idaho, and is majoring in Public Policy at Claremont McKenna College. In high school, his interest in government and public policy led him to work as a page for the Idaho State Legislature and participate in the US Senate Youth Program. He wants to study electoral data and political competitiveness, as well as learn about California’s top two primary system, which has led him to join the Rose Institute. He competes on the CMS Cross Country and Track teams and occasionally does landscape doodling in his free time.
Dhriti Jagadish ’27 is a Scripps student from Rocklin, California, and is planning to dual major in History and Public Policy. She began considering a career in law and politics early in high school by participating in Mock Trial and working on a NorCal State Senate campaign. She was first introduced to formal policy research at the NYU Division of Medical Ethics, where she helps study FDA guidelines. At the Rose, she hopes to further explore issues of criminal justice, homelessness, and healthcare. In her free time, she enjoys playing NYT crosswords, learning geography, and sneaking into CMC’s Cube.
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IN MEMORIAM SENIOR FAREWELLS by Cary Dornier PZ’25 science from the University of California, Riverside, in 1974.
Bob Walters at the Rose Institute in the 1980s
Robert Walters (1948-2020) was born on February 18, 1948 in Orland, California. He was a veteran of the Vietnam War. Bob joined the Rose Institute staff in 1974 with responsibility for managing all the Rose Institute’s computers and technical equipment. At first that was only a modest managerial responsibility. Soon, with gifts of increasingly advanced equipment from HewlettPackard, his technical skills grew. At the same time, he found himself charged with training growing numbers of students in the use of the equipment. Although largely self-taught, Bob became known as the go-to-guy on all computing problems at CMC. As the right-hand man to Tom Hofeller, the Institute’s leading redistricting expert, Howard also found himself involved in drafting maps for the State of Mississippi. When the Rose Institute executed the first courtsanctioned redistricting of that state, Bob was one of the authors of the new map.
Armando Navarro ’70
Armando Navarro ’70 (1941-2022) was born on October 31, 1941, in Artesia, California. He attended public schools in Rancho Cucamonga and graduated from Upland High School in 1960. He earned a BA in political science in 1970 from Claremont Men’s College and a PhD in political Rose Review | Fall 2023 | Page 14
In 1981 Navarro served as the California state director of Californios for Fair Representation (CFR), a task force of upwards of fifty Chicano community organizations in California mobilizing public opinion against gerrymandering the Chicano electorate in California in the 1981 reapportionment. Using the Rose Institute’s workroom, CFR created and distributed alternative redistricting maps and plans to the boards in charge of reapportioning California assembly, senate, and congressional districts. Navarro was an activist advocating for issues pertinent to the Mexican-American community. He was instrumental in rallying the community on issues such as relations between police and communities, immigration system reform, US-Mexico foreign relations, and voter registration efforts. Navarro was also a member of the faculty at UC Riverside. Johnny Ellis ’82 (1960-2022) was born on March 13, 1960 in Springfield, Missouri. A longtime Alaska resident, Ellis moved to the state in 1975 and attended the University of Alaska Anchorage before he transferred to Claremont McKenna College where he worked at the Rose Institute. Within a few years of graduating, Ellis joined the world of politics as Sen. Johnny Ellis ’82 a Democrat when he was elected to the Alaska House of Representatives in 1987, where he served until 1993. He then moved to the Alaska Senate and remained there until retiring in 2016. During his tenure in the Senate, he was twice selected as Minority Leader and served as Majority Leader from 2007 to 2010. Ellis was named the American Civil Liberties Union’s Legislator of the Year in 2000. He was known as a mentor and inspiration for the next generation of political leaders in Alaska, taking time to provide counsel and advice. Governor of Alaska Mike Dunleavy, a Republican, ordered all Alaska and U.S. flags to fly at half-staff from sunrise to sunset on Feb. 15 in respect for Ellis’s memory and issued a statement praising Ellis as being “well respected across the board.” RoseInstitute.org
WELCOME NEW BOARD MEMBERS Ashwin Navin ’99 CEO and Co-Founder, Samba TV
Ashwin Navin is an entrepreneur with over 20 years of leadership expertise and a deep understanding of starting and scaling successful startups in the media technology industry. He was previously co-founder and president of BitTorrent, Inc. before leaving to launch Samba TV in 2008. A former Rose research assistant, Navin graduated from CMC in 1999.
Suzanne Boriolo O’Bannon ’84
Jacinth K. Sohi ’11 Advisor | Angel Investor
Jacinth Sohi joined the BOG after serving as the first president of the Rose Institute Alumni Society. She likes building and scaling things in product and operations. She was employee #176 at Uber and the first person to come directly from Google. Sohi was Rose student manager for 2010-11.
Chief Financial Officer, Trammell Crow Residential
Sue O’Bannon is the chief financial officer at Trammell Crow Residential, where she oversees debt and equity financing for the company’s new developments in the Western United States. She has been involved with real estate for over 25 years, primarily focused on financing and managing real estate assets. O’Bannon worked at the Rose Institute during here college years and graduated from CMC in 1984. She also earned an MBA from the Anderson School at UCLA. RoseInstitute.org
Rose Review | Fall 2023 | Page 15
BOARD OF GOVERNORS SPOTLIGHT Bob Howard ’55 by Cary Dornier PZ ’25
How did you become involved in real estate consulting and what compelled you to embark on a career in this field? I graduated from CMC in 1955, and after I completed my enlistment in the US Army (Army Security Agency) in 1958, I worked in Dallas, Texas for a couple of years and then moved back to my hometown of Santa Monica, California, married my wife (of 63 years), Cleva, and started looking for a job. I had no idea what I wanted to do, other than to be in a business in which I could make good money.
From Santa Monica, California, Robert W. Howard graduated from Claremont Men’s College in 1955. He had a long and distinguished career focused on real estate consulting and investments. He served as the chairman of Howard & Howard Inc., a commercial and industrial real estate development and management firm. Mr. Howard has served on the Board of Governors of the Rose Institute for four decades, making him the Institute’s longest-serving Board member. He also formerly served as chair of the Board. Mr. Howard is also a founding board member and chairman of the Discovery Science Center in Orange County and is a current member of the Board of Governors of the Balboa Bay Club and Resort. A member of Mariners Church and Influencers, he is a board member and former chairman of Homeword, a national Christian organization dedicated to family preservation. Mr. Howard actively works to pass along his knowledge and expertise through mentorship. Residing in Laguna Woods, California with his wife Cleva Jo, he is a proud father to three children and grandfather to six grandchildren.
Rose Review | Fall 2023 | Page 16
One day, I had a successful interview in downtown Los Angeles with an insurance company, and as I was in the elevator, leaving the building, an old friend from Pomona College stepped into the elevator. We had both been Freshman Class Presidents at our respective schools, and he told me of this wonderful company that he worked for named Coldwell, Banker & Company, which was located in the same building. Long story short, he enjoined me to get back in the elevator so that I could meet his boss, a retired Army Colonel. After a short interview, the Colonel told me that they had a job open in the Mortgage Loan Department and he basically hired me on the spot. That started my totally unplanned, sixty plus year career in real estate. After about ten years with CBRE, I left the firm to join a client in the startup of a small real estate development company which ultimately led me to form another similar company with my brother and a friend who graduated with me at CMC, Steve Barnard. For the last 15 or so years, I have been working as a Consultant, helping others with their real estate needs. What guidance would you give students at the Claremont Colleges who are interested in real estate development and investing? The term “real estate” covers a great number of subsets so it is hard to answer the question succinctly. For example, when we speak of real estate, one quickly envisions the selling or buying of real estate as a broker. This category can be then broken down into sub-sets, such as commercial retail, industrial, land, apartments, offices, etc.
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BOARD OF GOVERNORS SPOTLIGHT
In addition to brokerage, an important part of any real estate transaction is financing, which is represented by the term Real Estate Finance. Other similar categories would be Appraising, Property and Asset Management, etc. Another huge related business is Real Estate Investing which encompasses the purchase of Real Estate and the subsequent management of all facets of real estate ownership. The same is true with the development of real estate projects from start to finish. The field of real estate is extremely broad and all encompassing. It is what makes becoming interested in real estate perhaps one of the most interesting of occupations. And it can be extremely rewarding, both in activities, but also in personal remuneration. Students interested in real estate development would be wise, while in college, to immerse themselves in accounting and also computer knowledge. Many colleges have courses in various real estate disciplines which should be taken. A basic understanding of the law would be helpful, especially if the transactional side of the business is attractive to them. During college, working as an intern with a real estate involved company would be very helpful. Graduate studies could be pursued. If available, school sponsored mentoring programs with successful alumni could also be helpful. How did you become involved in the Rose Institute? Dr. Alan Heslop described what the Institute was all about. I had always been interested in government and politics, so when Alan asked me if I would consider joining the Rose’s Board of Governors, I agreed and since that time, it has been one of the highlights of my life. Over my tenure on the Board we have had incredible directors, terrific Board chairmen and enthusiastic and talented Board members. It has been an honor to serve for all these years How has the Board of Governors changed throughout your four decades of service to the Rose Institute? That is a really good question for the former directors. Generally speaking, each of the boards over the years has performed extremely well. Director leadership has been outstanding—each had their own agendas and managing styles, but all in all, great accomplishments were made by
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each. Looking back, student leadership has always been solid and student participation at Board meetings has always been A+ since the beginning. In the beginning, while waiting for the Edessa Rose legacy gift to finalize, we operated on a rather tight budget and the Board members were mostly friends or associates of Alan Heslop. We relied on sales of data and were heavily involved with redistricting issues on which Alan was the king. Jack Stark, as president of the College, attended every meeting. Since Jack retired, I do not remember any of the College’s presidents attending a meeting, although they are all exofficio members. As an aside, I remember that in my first meeting as Board Chairman, California’s ex-governor, Pete Wilson and March Fong Eu, California Secretary of State were Board members. I’ll admit, I was a bit nervous at that Board meeting. At one point in the meeting, after the Board approved a resolution, proposed by March Fong Eu, I made the stupid comment, “Well now we have our “Marching” orders.” Someone started the laughter that went on for some time. I think our current board will be outstanding. Lots of excellent participation and willingness to get involved. Ryder Smith is doing a good job keeping things moving and money is no longer an issue. All this, combined with Dr. Miller’s new leadership style indicates good results for the future. What resonates with you about the Rose Institute’s mission and its focus on state and local government? The Rose is all about the students. I resonate with that mindset, and have always hoped that the Rose experience will provide a chapter in their lives that will foster interest in the political scene, and that it will assist them in reaching their personal goals, whether politically driven or not. My hope is that the students, at the end of their Rose experience, in addition to academic success, can rate their Rose membership as an effective tool in reaching such character traits as leadership, compassion towards others, and long term loyalty to CMC.
Rose Review | Fall 2023 | Page 17
ALUMNI & BOG SPOTLIGHT Christopher Townsend ’82 by Ryan Shakiba ’26
After graduating from Claremont Mckenna College with a BA in Political Science, Christopher Townsend went on to Harvard University’s JFK School of Government and earned his Masters of Public Administration. Post graduation, Mr. Townsend served as the Vice President of Public Affairs for Stein-Brief Group and Senior Director of Government and Community Affairs at PepsiCo. Mr. Townsend founded Townsend Public Affairs (TPA) in 1998. TPA is a legislative advocacy and grant writing firm. They provide California, federal, and local lobbying and funding services to their clients, which range from public agencies to nonprofit organizations. Additionally, Mr. Townsend worked closely with the California Legislature and the Governor’s office in drafting SB 5 (De Leon) which was approved in November 2018 and appeared on Proposition 68 on the statewide ballot.
Through your 25 years as President of TPA, you’ve done significant advocacy work for clients both at the state and national level. What are the similarities and differences between doing this work with California’s government as opposed to the federal government? Both the state and federal government bureaucracies are quite large in size, and their legislatures work full-time, so keeping on top of them is a daily challenge. They also have a variety of robust funding sources from which to pursue and secure support for local government projects. Rose Review | Fall 2023 | Page 18
That said, in terms of the size of their legislatures, California’s is significantly smaller considering the U.S. Congress has a total of 535 members, while California, with an economy that ranks as high as fifth in the world compared to all other nations, has a legislature with only 120 members. The state legislature is easier to access, and easier to build the relationships needed to influence legislation. California has significantly more legislative activity compared to Congress, at least with respect to local government. With the exception of the annual federal appropriations process, most federal legislation moves slowly, sometimes evolving over years before a bill is finalized for approval and then sent to the President. California has hundreds of bills each year that are aggressively pushed by their authors and sponsors to be voted upon quickly through the various committees and chambers before the end of that same year. Heightened vigilance is required, as well as strategic influence to ensure your client’s legislative agenda is not drowned out by the sea of legislative proposals. What’s the most difficult part of managing a firm the size of TPA? The biggest challenge is managing a team that is spread over five offices (Sacramento, Washington DC, Newport Beach, Fresno, and Oakland) plus everybody can work remotely as needed so you don’t have the luxury of having everybody in the same room at the same time to deliver information and discuss key items with confidence that everyone’s hearing and understanding the same thing as everyone else. As CMC is a school known for its opportunities related to studying government, there are many students here who are hoping to potentially do work similar to yours in the future. As someone who has succeeded in your field, what advice would you give to these students? First and foremost, make sure your communication skills are as strong as possible, not only in terms of speaking to others, but also how you write. In today’s world of texts and social media, written communication is so truncated that younger employees cannot write memos and reports that are clear and concise. If you are a good writer, you will stand out from the crowd and be very desirable to employers in the field of public policy and advocacy. Next, make sure you are intellectually curious, and know
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ALUMNI & BOG SPOTLIGHT how to research new topics and absorb the material quickly because public policy issues are constantly changing in terms of content and priorities. Finally, make sure you understand the true inner workings of how public policy is made - beyond the basic School House Rock - about how a bill becomes a law. One of the best ways to achieve that is by serving as an intern in the office of a Member of Congress or the state legislature. The semester I spent working in Washington DC though the Internship program was perhaps the most important and influential experience I enjoyed during my time at CMC. Prior to founding TPA, you worked for other companies as well. What inspired your confidence to take the “leap of faith” and start your own firm? After 10 years of working for a land developer, and then another 5 years working for PepsiCo and Taco Bell Corp, I realized that while I enjoyed the process of how government can be leveraged to do great things, I was tired of doing it on behalf of private interests who were (understandably) focused on shareholder value rather than the public benefit. Hence, when I had the opportunity to direct an effort, on behalf of Taco Bell Corp, to find money for the capital campaign for the fledgling Discovery Cube of Orange County,
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and we secured an earmark of $4 million in the state budget for them, the light bulb went off in my head that with my own advocacy firm I could enjoy using my skills in the public policy arena while still producing results that would benefit the community. It inspired me to start my own firm and I haven’t looked back since. Do you foresee any potential significant change in the advocacy and grant writing work of TPA and similar firms in the future, as some issues lose relative importance while others gain more? The issues may evolve, but as long as the state and federal governments still exist, they will always be creating challenges (and opportunities) for local governments. Especially because oftentimes the state and federal governments are constrained to use “one size fits all” approaches, yet there are over 5,000 local public agencies (cities, counties, school districts, college districts, water districts, parks districts, transportation agencies, etc.) in California and for the vast majority of them, these approaches, while perhaps well-intentioned, do not work to solve the problems of many of these local governments. Plus, with tight budgets and dwindling revenues, most local governments will need funding assistance for their programs and capital projects, both now and in the future. As long as we stay on top of these evolving issues, we can figure out how to get our local government clients the resources they need.
2006 New hires (from top left, clockwise) Patrick Atwater ’10, Ryan Wessels ’10, Abhi Nemani ’10, Keith McCammon ’10, Raghav Dhawan ’10, Sophia Hall ’10, Ilan Wurman ’10, Emily Forden ’10
Rose Review | Fall 2023 | Page 19
ROSE CELEBR ATES 50 YEARS
(L-R): Tim Plummer ’17, Ian O’Grady ’15, Nina Kamath ’16, Andrew Nam ’15, Elena Lopez ’15, Jessica Jin ’16, Hannah Oh ’16, Richard Mancuso ’16, Andrew Chung ’16, Manav Kohli ’16, Shannon Miller’16; kneeling: Ben Fusek ’17, Tyler Finn ’17
Student Management Anna Short PO’24
Senior Staff
Student Manager
Grace Hong ’24 Associate Student Manager
Rose Review Staff Jack Gladson ’25, Lead Jada Cook ’26, Lead Nikhill Agarwal ’24 Cary Dornier PZ’25 Ryan Shakiba ’26 Rose Review | Fall 2023 | Page 20
The mission of the Rose Institute is to enhance the education of students at Claremont McKenna College, to produce high quality research, and to promote public understanding on issues of state and local government, politics, and policy, with an emphasis on California.
Kenneth P. Miller, JD, PhD Director
Bipasa Nadon, JD Assistant Director
Marionette S. Moore
Administrative Coordinator
WWW.ROSEINSTITUTE.ORG
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